Sonic the Hedgehog: New Beginnings
by ShadowMasterKizone
Summary: This story starts off just after Archie's StH Issue #247, just before Eggman's attempt to create another Genesis Wave. The reason for it simply an attempt to continue the story and attempt to fill in some plot points that should have been filled in before the crossover reboot. Hope you enjoy my attempt.
1. Chapter 1

Sonic the Hedgehog  
#248* - A Plot Reformed

'So... The world has changed it seems... In a way that seemed unlikely, yet... Here I see it... For so long, I have been away... And yet, here it stands as an ultimate dictator prepares to erase everything in history. We can't very well have that, now can we, fat man...?'

Meanwhile in the Arctic, Sonic, Team Fighters, and the Arctic Freedom Fighters had bested Mecha Sally and the Egg Swats guarding the area. Everything seemed to be stopped though as things were quiet. Eggman especially as he had his finger on the button to initiate another Genesis Wave.

"What!? Again!? This isn't happening again! I have fuel! I have resources! Why isn't the button working!?" Eggman shouted in his frustrations as he slammed the button until it broke.

"We're not sure, Doctor. Checking the statistics, the Genesis Wave should have happened...and yet nothing came out," Orbot analyzed as he was checking the monitors.

"Ah reckon there be some kind of glitch in the system, boss," Cubot reasoned through his broken voice chip.

"If there is some kind of glitch, then fix it! I don't want to lose after this much preparation!" Eggman roared angrily before his Death Egg 2's alarms blaired throughout the station. "What now!?"

"Sonic, sir. That's 'What'. And he and his furbitten friends are taking the station by storm and no Mecha Sally is in sight..." Orbot said, turning to Dr. Eggman.

"Grrr... Take off! We need to leave now!" Eggman ordered as he slammed a fist.

"Not this time, Ro-"butt"-nik," Sonic said, standing in front of the door as he had ran his way through the security. "What ever you had planned, it stops here. Your ship is done-zo and so are you!"

"Blast you, hedgehog!" Eggman shouted as he pressed a button, letting him escape through a trapdoor going down.

"'ey! Wait fer us!" Cubot shouted as he and Orbot fell in with Eggman.

"Time to crack this egg, once and for all," Sonic said as he jumped in, ready to confront Eggman at last.

Tails, Amy, and the Arctic Freedom Fighters go to work on the Death Egg Mk 2 from the inside, aiming to blow the whole thing up with charges. "Okay! Within 15 minutes, this whole base will be nothing but a bad memory. Guntiver! Is everyone else ready?" Tails asked as he finished up himself.

"Yeah! Time to give the Eggman a fireworks show he won't forget!" Guntiver cheered as he placed his last charge.

"We should be leaving though! Things are about to get pretty cold here!" Flip shouted as more Egg Swats were approaching.

"Right, let's go!" Tails shouted as the group formed a tactical retreat. As they ran, Erma opened an escape door under camoflage, allowing the group to leave, with Erma close behind.

"I hope Sonic won't need our help," Amy said as they looked back at the Death Egg.

"Its Sonic... He's got this," Tails reassured with a smile.

Sonic landed in the heart of the Death Egg, looking around for his long term foe. "Come out, Eggman! Unless you're chicken!" he taunted as he heard the sound of an engine.

Sonic turned to face one of Dr. Eggman's much deadlier creations. "You will pay dearly for what you have done, Sonic! I don't know what you did or could have possibly done to stop my Genesis Wave, but I will erase you from this planet if it is the last thing I do!" Eggman shouted from his cockpit, very clearly angry.

"Uh huh. Heard one of these speeches, heard them all, Robo-butt," Sonic said as he seemed really confident.

"Fine! Prepare to die at the hands of...my EGG DRAGOON!" the mad scientist shouted as the wings of his monstous creation spread.

Eggman aimed his cannon arm and fired from the six barrel machine, while Sonic ran, jumping to the walls to observe how he was going to bring this tyrant down. As Sonic ran, Eggman switched and aimed his drill before stabbing toward the hedgehog. Sonic jumped and ran along the arm, smiling as landed on Eggman's cockpit.

"When will you learn that you can't beat the best hedgehog around?" Sonic asked, smiling as his foot tapped on the glass of the cockpit.

"You will lose, Sonic! And then the world will be mine! Your interference this day is only a minor one! I will be back!" Eggman announced angrily.

"We'll see." Sonic smiled before jumping and using a Spin Dash as he busted the glass of Eggman's cockpit and smashed the controls of his machine.

As the robot began to malfunction and soon blow up, Eggman flew out on his Egg Mobile, turning to Sonic. "This isn't the last you'll hear of me!" he shouted before returning to his control room above.

"Okay. That's one less problem to deal with. Now to get out of here before she goes 'ka-boom'," Sonic said to himself as he busted through the nearest exit and proceeding to jump out of the Death Egg as it was making its departure.

Tails and the Arctic Freedom Fighters were waiting to hear back from Sonic, hoping he'd make it out in time. Within only mere seconds, Sonic skidded to a stop in front of his buddies. "Hey! Did you miss me?" Sonic asked with a thumbs up.

"Sonic!" Amy shouted as she went to hug Sonic tightly.

"I knew you'd make it!" Tails shouted with pure excitement as he hugged his bro.

"Thanks, little dude. Are the charges ready?" Sonic asked as he saw the Death Egg leave.

"Yes. They should be ready to blow in...now," Tails calculated as the Death Egg Mk 2 exploded spectacularly.

Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot were in the Egg Mobile as they escaped, covered in soot. "Grrr..." Eggman growled, seeing his precious work undone.

"Well, that's a bummer," Cubot said very bluntly.

"I really really really really REALLY HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!" Eggman shouted into the wind with pure rage.

"I don't know about you guys, but I think he likes me," Sonic joked as the others laughed.

The group returned to Tails' plane where Silver still had Mecha Sally restrained with his psychic powers, T-Pup working to disengage Sally's violent tendancies so they wouldn't lose her again. "Thanks for bringing that nightmare to an end, Sonic," Guntiver said as the two shook hands.

"It wasn't much. Just us doing what we do best," Sonic said with a smile. "And hey, you guys did great too."

"Will we zee you again?" Sealia asked as she looked to the duo.

"Definitely. Despite how cold it is, I really enjoyed meeting you guys," Amy said with a polite smile.

"Everything is a-go, Sonic! Sally is strapped in and any weapons she has on her are disabled," Tails said with a thumbs up.

"Yip yip!~" T-Pup added as its tail wagged.

"Sonic, if you don't mind, I'd like to join you on the trip back to New Mobotropolis. Just in case Sally escapes, I'll at least be able to catch her," Silver requests as he approached the blue hedgehog.

"...And you promise that you'll drop this whole 'traitor' nonsense afterwards?" Sonic asked, being very wary of Silver's obsession.

"I promise. No more traitors. Looking at it now, it wasn't exactly obvious who it could have been, but hopefully once Sally is restored, my future will be better at long last. And...I'm hoping you'll forgive my previous assumptions on your other friends," Silver said, feeling guilty over the whole mess.

Sonic tapped his foot as he thought about it. If driven to desperation, would he go as far as Silver did just to protect his world? Probably not, but considering what Silver went through and what he added on top of that, Sonic nodded and smiled. "Hehe. I forgive you. You weren't exactly being selfish, you were just jumping to the wrong guys. If this does fix your future, then I hope you'll see the sun and stars on a nice comfy field soon," Sonic said supportingly as he let up a brofist.

Silver looked at the offer before smiling, fist bumping the fellow hedgehog, Tails and Amy happy to see the two make up.

Meanwhile, at Mobotropolis, Rotor and his Team Freedom were dealing with the Tails Doll as it was beginning to destroy the building they were in. "Nicole! Tell me you can get rid of the nanites this thing is using to keep this form!" Rotor shouted as he and Heavy were dealing the most damage while Big was pushing at it as hard as he could.

"I cannot! The nanites the Tails Doll used are under its control! But I detect the nanite disruptor as a potential weakness!" Nicole shouted as tried to control the Tails Doll's nanites.

"Got it! Heavy! Toss Bomb at the crystal up there!" Rotor ordered as he continued to fire beams at the beast.

"I will try! C'mon, Bomb! Up you go!" Heavy shouted before tossing Bomb at the crystal, Bomb exploding.

The Tails Doll immediately retracted, turning into an iron ball as the robot exploded. "No effect..." Heavy said as he took a step back.

"This isn't good. A direct attack won't work... But maybe..." Rotor said before looking at a newly dispensed Bomb. "Bomb. Find Cream. Her flight abilities might just come in use..."

"Ping!" Bomb immediately ran to find Cream hiding behind something she considered safe.

"Huh? Mr. Bomb? What is it?" Cream asked, looking as Bomb began to 'Ping' a lot. "...Oh! Sneaky approach. Okay." Cream grabbed Bomb before looking at Cheese. "Stay here, Cheese. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Chao..." Cheese said, very worried but trusted Cream's bravery as she flapped her ears as she flew behind the Tails Doll.

"Keep this thing's attention, gang!" Rotor ordered as he and Bomb continued the push.

"Okay," Big said as he punched the Tails Doll only to be slapped away. "Ow! That hurt..."

Cream slowly flew above Tails Doll, trying to position herself just in throwing position. "Ready, Mr. Bomb? I'm going to throw you," she said softly as she got ready.

Tails Doll's back opened as a massive eye glared at the bunny girl. It then began to charge up a laser and fired. Cream froze as she saw the laser come at her, her eyes wide. Cheese saw this and immediately flew at the laser, taking the full brunt with his body before collapsing from the damage.

"CHEESE!" Cream screamed as she extended a hand, tears coming out of her eyes, catching everyone's attention. She then clenched her hand into a fist as she had a look of pure rage. "How... How dare you! Cheese was my friend! How could you do that to Cheese, you monster!" Cream then flew at Tails Doll, dropping Bomb onto the big eye as it charged up to blind the monster. She then flew at the crystal on top and used what strength she could to pull off the anteanna, ripping it clean off and causing the nanites on the Tails Doll to deactivate, reverting the monster back to a regular doll. Cream, still in blind rage, grabbed a metal pipe and began to beat the doll wildly, ripping it apart in blind fury. Even this scared Rotor as the team watched in horror.

"Cream! Cream!" Nicole shouted, grabbing Cream's shoulder as the girl swung at her. Thankfully, just a hologram, Nicole was unharmed, but it was still shocking to see Cream swing at a friend.

"Miss... Miss Nicole... Cheese... He..." Cream said, still crying as she held onto Nicole as tightly as she could.

"...Rotor. Please get Cheese to the Tommy Turtle Hospital..." Nicole ordered as she stayed to comfort the bunny.

"R-Right!" Rotor shouted as he ran over to grab the horribly damaged Chao. "Don't worry... You'll be okay..."

"Will Cheese be okay?" Big asked, feeling genuinely sad.

"I...I don't know..." Cream said, going with Rotor as they rushed to the hospital.

Once at the hospital, Cream and Rotor waited outside, Rotor having that look of guilt. "...Cream... I'm sorry... I made a really bad play back there..." Rotor said, putting a hand on her back.

"No, Mr. Rotor... I made a bad play... I froze up when I saw that giant eye stare at me... All I saw was...nightmares... Scary nightmares of that mean Doctor burning all of the world and building machines over them... I froze and...Cheese got hurt..." Cream admitted as her ears drooped more.

Doctor Quack came out, looking a bit sad. "Well?" Rotor spoke up, being hopeful.

"We...tried what we could. Cheese was hurt pretty badly and...I'm afraid there isn't much more we could do..." Quack said, his tone saddened by this fact. "I'm sorry, Cream..."

Cream began to cry as she stood up, moving into the room to see Cheese. After she did, Vanilla appeared, having heard the news. "Mr. Rotor! Where is Cream and Cheese?" she asked, very worried for her.

"Ch-Cheese...?" Cream called as she approached the bed with a heavily bandaged Cheese on top. "Cheese... I'm so sorry... I should not have froze like that... I hesitated and you took the hit for me... I guess being a Freedom Fighter is much harder than I thought... Mr. Sonic and his friends make it seem so much easier... But I guess they are just used to this...huh...? I'm very sorry Cheese... Good night..." Cream kissed Cheese on the head before moving away.

As she moved away, a bright glow caught her attention. This glow came from Cheese as the bandages unwrapped themselves. In the Chao's place was an egg which shook and popped open, revealing a white Chao with blue tips on his nubs, feet, and points on its head. Floating above was a blue halo and on his back were two white and yellow wings. "Ch-Cheese?" Cream called in amazement.

Cheese bowed politely, his voice more serene and gentle. "Chao chao," he greeted, still in Chao language.

"Mr. Rotor! Dr. Quack! Come quick! Cheese is alive!~" Cream called, bringing the two and Vanilla inside as Cream was playing with the newly evolved Hero Chao.

"Well, I'll be..." Quack said with astonishment. "I didn't think I'd see it myself, but your Chao has evolved!"

"Evolved, Dr. Quack?" Vanilla asked, now confused.

"Oh right. Chao, depending on who raises them, may evolve into a different form of Chao if given enough care. This one is a Hero Chao, raised from Cream's eternal love toward Cheese," Rotor explained with a relieving smile. "When you work at a computer, you tend to get some free time."

"This... This is the best day of my life~" Cream said as she hugged Cheese.

"Cream... I'm happy you and Cheese are safe, but if what Rotor told is true... Cream... I want you off Team Freedom..." Vanilla said, kneeling down to Cream's level.

"What!?"

Back with Eggman, floating over in the middle of nowhere after his defeat, he was contemplating the events that transpired. "I don't understand... I had everything in place... Sonic aside, my resources were optimal, my fuel was full, and the Genesis Wave was ready to ready to reset everything... So what went wrong?" Eggman asked as he was rubbing his head in confusion.

"Perhaps it was the twin tails one? Maybe he hacked the Genesis Wave to fail?" Orbot assumed with a shrug.

"No... Its possible, but no... Someone else must have caused the Genesis Wave to malfunction. And with the Death Egg gone, there's no hope in creating another one, so its back to the drawing board! But then...what happened to my blue Chaos Emerald after the first Genesis Wave?" Eggman asked, unaware that unknown eyes were watching him.

'Worry not, round one... MY emerald is safe...with me... Hmmm... But now that I have one, let us look back at the others... The Gray Emerald is with the one called Mammoth Mogul... He will be an interesting challenge considering he is an immortal... The Red and Green Emeralds are in the Federation's hands thanks to the black hedgehog... They will be dealt with shortly... The Purple Emerald is with a skunk... I sense a dark force with this one... Fun~ The Blue Emerald was meant to go to through dimensional travel, but with my Chaos abilities, I was able to intercept it... That leaves the Yellow and Cyan Emeralds still in Feist's furry hands. He will be dealt with soon... Just a matter of patience... And time is all I have~'

Who is this strange voice? What will Eggman bring next to attack New Mobotropolis? Find out next time on Sonic the Hedgehog!


	2. Chapter 2

Sonic the Hedgehog  
#249 - Wandering Legionnaire

Albion wasteland, two days after Echidna exile...

A lone legionnaire stood on a hill, looking on at the once great city surrounded by ocean. They were there when they attacked Albion with Lien-Da and her forces. When the battle got too heated, they ran away, abandoning their comrades and exiling themself. While they did not enjoy working under Lien-Da, their time was enjoyable with those they cared about, one of them being Julie-Su. For some time, they thought about leaving the Dark Legion because of Lien-Da's greed, but never did they think they'd see everyone gone.

After a moment of thought, the legionnaire took off their robe, revealing a female Echidna underneath. Her right eye was replaced by red optics that gave her various visual abilities. Her fur was red, her first two right front tendrils were cybernetic. Her white hair blew in the wind as she looked on. Her attire consisted of the typical gloves similar to Julie-Su's, a pair of black shoes with a red stripe and metal soles, a casual shirt with a star pattern on the front, a communicator wrist band on her right hand, and a utility belt which holstered her double barrelled shotgun-like blaster.

Once the cloak was off, she left the hill overlooking Albion and Mercia altogether...

Three days of travelling later, the unknown Echidna found herself in the Great Desert, which was home to the Dark Egg Legion Great Desert Chapter. Using the limited info she got, the Baron had someone who was a Freedom Fighter with him. Unfortunately, she had that feeling that the heat was gonna beat her first as she was getting slowly dehydrated. After another mile, she finally collapsed from exhaustion, trying so hard to push herself forward only to finally fall asleep.

After what seemed like hours, the female Echidna awoke to find herself under a tent, a straw in her mouth as if she was being forced to drink. She peered to her right find the one she was looking for.

"...Hm? Are ya awake, girl?" Beauregard Rabbot asked as he lifted the bottle away.

"You... You are the Baron..." the female Echidna stated, still relatively weak.

"That Ah am, but ya try to take it easy. We found ya in the desert, lookin' to be dyin'. So yer still a little weak right now..." Grandmaster Rabbot said, placing a wet towel on the Echidna's head.

"I... I wish to go to Angel Island... To find Knuckles..." she stated, still a bit weak.

"Knuckles?" called a voice as another walked in. It was Bunnie, now with cybernetics. As a condition for staying with her uncle, she had to be Legionnized. "Pardon mah intrusion, Uncle Beary, but did this here Echidna say 'Knuckles'?"

"Yeah, she did. But why on Mobius would she want to see that guy?" Beauregard asked as he sat down.

"...I'm trying to find the last of my species... What little scraps that are left..." the Echidna said before sitting up.

"Hey hey, rest back down, girl. Ya don't need to be movin' like that," the Baron said, getting rightfully concerned.

"Its fine... I appreciate the hospitality, but I need someone to escort me to Angel Island..." she said, getting off the table.

"...Ah may be to help... If ya tell me yer story and name first," Bunnie offered, getting Beauregard's attention as he smiled.

"Very well. My name is Casi-Lu. I was a mere Legionnaire grunt back when the barrier of the Twilight Zone began to diminish and we, the Dark Legion, could attack Echidnopolis. I had a streak for me rebelious against Kragok at the time, mostly because working under him or Lien-Da was not as glamourous as it seemed. An example of this is... If you were Lien-Da, Baron Beauregard, you'd be leaving me for dead in the desert. At least when we were working under Dimitri, we were in better hands...er claws. Anyway, Eggman has sent us to Albion to capture and Legionnize all the Echidna there. Needless to say, I was tired of working under Lien-Da, so the moment I had the chance, I ran away to Mercia, gettin away undetected. After a couple of days, I returned to find the entire city deserted. The idea was that the Guardian would take out the Dark Legion like he always does and save everyone...maybe even knock Lien-Da down a peg. Instead...I found no one... No signs of life... Just the eerie feeling that I was the only Echidna Legionnaire left..."

"...Oh mah stars... Ya poor thing... Listen, regardless of how rotten yer leader is, ya never abandon yer friends... That said, Ah've seen Lien-Da... And she is definitely a rough customer to deal wit'," Beauregard said as he rubbed Casi-Lu's back.

"No kiddin'. Anyway, Ah can get ya to Knuckles easy. Maybe he has a good idea of what happened to yer species," Bunnie suggested as she put her hands on her metal hips.

"...That reminds me. Bunnie, were you not a Freedom Fighter?" Casi-Lu asked as she looked at the cyborg bunny.

"Ah was... But circumstances left me no choice but to leave... Losin' my friend, Sally... Losin' my love, Antoine... Ah just couldn't bear it any longer..." Bunnie explained as she looked away.

"...I must say, I'm jealous of you Freedom Fighters... You fight for what you feel is right or what is important to you... At first, we Dark Legion fought because we felt our way was right, not knowing just how hypocritical both we and the Brotherhood of Guardians were to each other... Now the Dark EGG Legion fight because of some fat man, sitting on his throne as he laughs at our misery... I hate Eggman..." Casi-Lu said, angered for even mentioning her 'boss'.

"Join the club, Casi-Lu... We didn't exactly join the Dark Egg Legion by choice... Because of those Sand Blast Freedom Fighters and their prejudice ways, we had to side wit' Eggman," Beauregard explained, glaring at the city with some concern. Jack Rabbit has been real quiet as of late...

"I understand... Still... I feel like once Julie-Su joined the Chaotix, she got much more freedom and began fighting for what she believed in instead of what she was being ordered to fight for..." Casi-Lu said, smiling a bit at mentioning Julie-Su.

"Why not start yer own Freedom Fighting group?" Bunnie suggested with a smile.

"...First things first... I gotta find away to rid myself of this darned bomb... Without it, Eggman will hold no power over me, and I could potentially help others in their time of need..." Casi said, turning to Bunnie, pointing at her cybernetic eye.

"Hmmm... A'right. If Ah take ya to Angel Island, ya promise not to tell anyone ya saw me?" Bunnie asked, looking at the Echidna. "Ah don't want to get mah uncle in trouble... That's all."

"Secret is between you and me," Casi said, pulling an imaginary zipper across her face with a smile.

Bunnie and Casi laughed before the Echidna found the strength to stand. "So if ya did make a Freedom Fighting group, any suggestions on who ya'd want?" Bunnie asked with a chuckle.

"None so far, but I might..." Casi's voice began to vanish as the two left Beauregard alone as he thought about something.

With this chance with Casi, Matilda may have a chance to leave without Eggman knowing. He'd seen to Matilda's recovery since the last time Mighty was around, but he felt this was an opportunity worth grabbing. So as he returned to his office, he sent for Matilda while asking to be left alone with the girl.

"You called me, Baron sir?" Matilda asked as she entered, a new arm attached to replace the other that had been destroyed.

"Yes, Matilda. Now... Ah did say to yer brother a while back that Ah'd protect ya should anything come up..." the Baron spoke, his hat hiding his eyes. "...But a new opportunity came up. One Ah'd like for ya to take..."

"A new opportunity? What is it?" Matilda asked curiously as she looked at the Baron.

"A new visitor is here lookin' for one of my niece's friends... And Ah'd like fer ya to go wit' her," he said.

"What!? And leave you to those...Sand Blast dirtbags!?" Matilda shouted looking at the Baron with shock.

"Ah know ya wanna help with those whelps, but Ah think we can take care of it... Its better ya don't get involved with Eggman anymore than ya have so far..."

"But... No... I will not leave... Not until those renegades are dealt with once and for all," Matilda said as she looked at Beauregard.

"Pardon my eavesdropping, but did you say renegades?" Casi asked as she walked in.

"Casi? I thought you were with Bunnie," Beauregard said as he stood up.

"Grandmaster Beauregard, we have trouble involving a few massive tanks. Bunnie has everyone on standby. If you need help, I'm your Legionnaire," Casi offered.

"...A'right. Ya and Matilda'll be with me. Jack'll be in for a surprise," the Baron said as he ran outside.

Matilda looked at Casi before approaching her. "...What can you do that would be useful to us?" she asked, arms crossed.

"I can detect potential weak points and manage plans based on what I see with my cybernetic eye. Its not perfect, but it helps... Sadly, Lien-Da saw it as useless and often had me ignored," Casi explained, having heavy resentment toward Lien-Da.

"I see. I hope that comes handy here," Matilda said as she grabbed Casi's hand and pulled her to the battlefront where the renegade Sand Blast Freedom Fighters were charging with jeeps and a few tanks at the front.

Jack came out of one of the tanks and laughed. "Alright, you Legion jerks! Today you all fall! No more mercy! This ends today!" Jack shouted, tired of being outwitted.

"For a bunch of Freedom Fighters, they seem...very extreme..." Casi said as she saw the bold charge.

"Yeah. They ain't much like Freedom Fighters and more like thugs pretendin' to be," Bunnie explained as she aimed her arm cannon. She then fired, causing a massive fire fight between the two.

As the two forces fired at each other, Casi began to scan the area with her cybernetic eye, seeing weaknesses on the tanks on the wheels. "Beauregard, get your snipers to take aim at the wheels," Casi ordered to the Grandmaster.

"Huh? The wheels...? Oh! Snipers! Aim fer the wheels!" the Baron order to her snipers.

Casi then saw something fast fly by the field, too fast for her cybernetic eye. "What's that racing around?"

"That's Jolt... He's got speed that only barely qualifies as Sonic speed..." Bunnie explained.

"You know, Legion punks, you could be better by actually hitting me! Hah~" Jolt shouted as he ran by the Legions and smacked them around as Shift tossed his bear trap to drag the other Legionnaires down.

"These guys... They are awful... Hmmm..." Casi analyzed Jolt's speed and determined where the roadrunner would be before pulling out her shotgun and shooting a stun round, catch Jolt as he tumbled over and rolled across the field.

"Ack! Wh-What happened!?" Jolt shouted as he was paralyzed.

"Huh? How did that...?" Jack asked as he looked at the Echidna as she continued to scan the area. "Avery! We got a troublemaker! Take her out!"

"Right!" Avery shouted as he took out a bazooka and fired it at Casi.

"Casi! Look out!" Matilda shouted as she pushed the Echidna down, the rocket flying over them. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, thanks. These guys mean business, huh?" Casi asked, looking at Matilda.

"Yeah, they do. Do you have a plan to take out Jack's tank?" Matilda asked, seeing that it was heavily guarded.

"I might... How hard can you punch?" Casi asked, getting up but staying low.

"Hard enough to break 20 collective jaws," Matilda said as the pistons on her arms came out.

Casi smiled before going to Beauregard and whispered to him. "Got it. Everyone! Cover fire! Bunnie! Get Avery before he tries somethin'!" the Baron shouted as Bunnie saluted and flew to handle the big bear as he tried firing another missile. Matilda then ran out with Casi.

"Hey, Jack! Betcha can't hit us!" Matilda taunted as she and Casi separated into two directions.

"Hey! Hold still!" Jack shouted as he aimed his cannon at Matilda. He then looked back to see what Casi was up to, dodging a stun blast as Casi ran up to the tank, climbing it. "What are you up to, you ijit!?"

Casi grabbed the nuzzle before jumping at Jack just as he pulled out a gun, aiming it at Casi. The gun shot, hitting Casi's cybernetic eye. "Ack! No way! You are NOT a Freedom Fighter you little vine eater!" she shouted as she grabbed and pinned down Jack, only to get headbutted.

"Casi!" Matilda called, only to get her arm bit by Shift.

"Mind your own tail, girl!" Shift taunted as he tried pulling Matilda toward him.

"Leave me...ALONE!" she shouted before pulling Shift out of his jeep and punched his face so hard, it sent him back at the jeep, an explosion coming with it. With that out of the way, Matilda ran to the tank and lifted it up.

Jack and Casi continued their tussle inside, the shift in position causing them to rattle inside. Casi grabbed Jack by the ears as she held onto the wheel. Jack grabbed his gun and shot it once it was on Casi. Casi let out a silent scream as she was shot. She held on though as she slammed Jack's face on the window repeatedly until it finally broke, in which they both crawled out, a piece of glass jabbed into Jack's other eye.

"Ah, #% $! My eye! My #$ &#%# eye!" Jack swore as he rolled in pain as held his face.

Matilda saw Casi mortally wounded and walked over to her after tossing the tank aside. "Casi!" Matilda shouted as she held her.

Casi lifted her shotgun and shot it, a blast shooting through Avery as he prepared to take the two out. He fell back with a slam, leaving Casi to pass out. "Casi? Casi! Somebody! Help! She needs help!" Matilda called out, looking to her comrades.

Bunnie landed and picked up Casi. "Let's get her to medic tent now," she said as she flew off.

Matilda looked at Jack. "...You... You're no Freedom Fighter. You're just a PUNK!" Matilda shouted angrily.

"Yeah? And you're just some brat with no family OR friends! Just some Robian freakshow!" Jack taunted with a crazed laugh.

Matilda grabbed Jack, her piston coming out. "...I'm not a Robian... I'm a MOBIAN!" She then launched a punch right at Jack's chest, the force of the piston coming back in sending Jack flying into the air, a ping signifying him leaving the stratosphere. As she stood there, she glared at the remaining troops. "If any of you... ANY of you...come back to hurt my friends... We will crush you... Destroy you... You thought we were the monsters? You are so much worse... You turned us away when we needed refuge... You tried killing us out of prejudice... Did you think about how any of us felt? How the children would feel? NO! You didn't! We're not the bad guys! You are! We've seen a real Freedom Fighter risk their life for us just to end this petty war you started! If you ever come back... We'll just stomp you harder! Now LEAVE US ALONE!" Matilda shouted, scaring the Sand Blasters as they ran away as fast as they could back to their city.

After that speech, the Dark Egg Legion began to cheer, feeling a true victory in such a long time, though Matilda couldn't feel that until she knew how Casi was.

Hours had passed as Matilda and Bunnie waited for some kind of news about Casi's condition. Beauregard worked on Casi as hard as he could, even going as far as to remove the bomb in the cybernetic eye while the Echidna was unconcious. Once everything was as fine as they could be, the Baron walked outside. "How is she, Uncle?" Bunnie asked, just as concerned as Matilda.

"She'll be fine. Ya got her here in the nick of time, otherwise that bullet wound would've been her end," the Baron said as he cleaned his hands. "She just needs rest, but the two of ya can go see her."

"Thank you, sir," Matilda said as she moved inside the tent, seeing Casi as she turned to face the armadillo.

"Hey, Matilda... How are you?" Casi asked with a smile.

"I'm fine. Thanks to you, the Sand Blasters aren't coming back. ...At least not anytime soon. Jack's gone and...you...uh..." Matilda tried to explain Avery, but couldn't.

"Its fine. I know what I did... I just thought my blaster was on stun, not blast... You can't predict that stuff, huh...?" the Echidna asked as she sighed. "So much for being a Freedom Fighter... They have this...law that they don't kill... And I already screwed that up..."

"Ah wouldn't be too sure, girl," Bunnie said as she entered the tent. "Ya only did what ya had to on the spot. Ya said it yerself, ya had no idea that the blaster was set to blast. No one's gonna blame ya for it."

"Are you sure? I mean... I never wanted to kill..." Casi said, looking away.

"Ah'm sure... Its not yer fault," Bunnie said before smiling.

"...Thanks, Bunnie... Are we still set to leave for Angel Island tomorrow?" Casi asked Bunnie.

"Yeah. So long as yer strong by then," Bunnie said with a thumbs up.

"That...reminds me... Casi... Would you be willing to bring someone with you on the trip?" Matilda asked, approaching her new friend.

"Um... Yeah, but why?" the Echidna asked curiously.

"Casi... I want to be apart of your Freedom Fighter group... I want to protect others and... I'd like to see my brother again... Would you be willing to accept me?" Matilda asked, offering a hand.

"...Yeah. I'd be honored to have you as a team member... Matilda the Armadillo," Casi said, accepting the hand with a smile.

Baron Beauregard looked in with a smile before tipping his hat and leaving.

The next morning, Casi, despite being still injured, was with Bunnie and Matilda, looking around the area for the floating island. "According to my calculations, Angel Island should pass by here any minute," she stated as her cybernetic eye timed it down.

"How do you know this, Casi?" Matilda asked, her left hand on her hip.

"Back when we were just called the 'Dark Legion', I used my free time to calculate the floating pattern of Angel Island. It seems to make a full orbit in half the time the moon does. In other words, only six months. It only slightly deviates its course once a full rotation has been made," Casi explained as she looked ready. "Angel Island is almost here. Bunnie, when you're ready."

Bunnie grabbed both Matilda and Casi before blasting off to the floating rock, which was exactly where Casi predicted. Once above the island, Bunnie dropped the two off softly. "Thanks, Bunnie," Matilda said with a wave.

"No problem, Sugar-shell. Tell Mighty Ah said 'Howdy', kay?" Bunnie said with a smile before flying back to the base.

"Okay. Let's get moving," Casi said as she ran with Matilda following. The two ran until they were near the Master Emerald. "A little bit further and we should-"

"-be meeting a face full of Knuckles!" shouted a voice as Knuckles came down, punching the ground as he greeted the duo only to stop short when he realized the intruder was an Echidna like him. "Wait... You're..."

"Hey, Guardian. Been a while, huh?" Casi asked as she held a hand in front of Matilda to calm her down.

Knuckles and Casi have met face to face. What will happen next? Will Knuckles embrace the fact he has some kin left in the world? Find out next time on Kinful Embrace!


End file.
